ESPN has announced an eight-year extension of “Monday Night Football” that includes 3D broadcast rights, expanded NFL studio programming, highlight rights for TV and ESPN.com, continued Spanish language rights, the Pro Bowl, the NFL Draft, and rights to simulcast network coverage on tablet devices through the WatchESPN app.
The deal, which runs from 2014 to 2021, “should help quell ideas that ESPN 3D might be axed after its removal from U-verse,” suggests Engadget.
According to the press release: “The extensive package of NFL rights will fuel the continued growth of ESPN year-round, boosting its core television business while at the same time supporting the company’s ‘best available screen’ strategy with NFL programs on TV, online and on mobile devices via authentication and digital rights.”
The agreement will also lead to “Monday Night Football” celebrating its 50th anniversary season on ESPN in 2020.
FilmFunds, a new venture launching this week at the Toronto International Film Festival, will use a crowdsourcing approach to help determine whether a film or TV show would draw an audience.
FilmFunds’ test group of some 60 million moviegoers will review synopses, trailers, artwork and other marketing materials and vote whether to “Like” a project. The results can help put a project into production and get it completed, distributed and marketed.
According to Variety: “Site divides projects into three categories — materials of projects members can help put into production, completed projects member votes can help get finished or distributed, and a marketing portal where studio pics can gain support and members can recruit friends and pre-sell tickets through websites like Fandango.”
A FilmFunds mobile app provides more information after a user takes a snapshot of a poster, trailer or film title.
The article also references Emotional ID, which “translates real-time facial reactions and emotions during test previews into measurable results.”
The FilmFunds site allows users to enter as a Filmmaker (“Get your projects seen and potentially produced”) or a Fan (“Promote projects and interact with filmmakers”).
According to the site: “FilmFunds enables you to choose what you want to see and then we get it made. Our connections in the industry finalize deals but your vote is the catalyst. The more you participate the bigger the rewards. A few ‘suits’ used to call all the shots. FilmFunds puts YOU in charge. We’re just here to help!”
This fall’s TV season may see some shifts in terms of viewership numbers, due in large part to media technology trends, suggests Variety.
As TVs continue to become connected to the Web via Blu-ray players and gaming consoles in more homes, the technology may impact viewing habits and not turn out to be as positive for TV programming as originally envisioned by the industry.
New research from Knowledge Networks suggests users may use their Web-connected TVs to perform other online activities before getting around to watching programming. Variety points out that online access to TV content also provides “the option of using a full-sized TV screen for all sorts of activities and functions previously associated with a computer, from perusing photos to long-distance chatting with relatives to playing games or frequenting chat rooms.”
The article poses a compelling question: “So do programmers have a new threat — one where using the TV doesn’t mean actually watching their content?”
Dish is expected to introduce a streaming movie service under its Blockbuster brand next month. The move will introduce a competitor to Netflix and coincide with that company’s recently announced price increase.
When Dish acquired Blockbuster’s assets in April for $320 million, it received content rights that it has sought to beef up through discussions with the studios.
“This ought to begin changing the way investors think about Dish,” said Ryan Vineyard, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets. “It goes from being an old-school pay-TV company to launching what could be a really high-growth business.”
Dish currently ranks as the second largest U.S. satellite-TV provider behind DirecTV.
Netflix walked away from another deal with Starz after that company insisted on a tiered-pricing model similar to what they would get with a cable channel. Netflix did not want to tamper with the simplicity of its monthly fee model.
Netflix had reportedly offered Starz more than $300 million per year to renew their agreement.
With the demise of the Starz deal, Netflix customers may feel that they are paying more and getting less. Still, Netflix counters that their Starz content accounts for only 5-6 percent of domestic viewing.
Netflix will be challenged by competitors like Hulu, Amazon, Apple and Microsoft XBox Live. Moreover, cable companies are increasingly offering similar access to video through TV Anywhere services.
Starz may either sell its content to a Netflix competitor or try and create its own streaming brand like HBO.
As the bidding war for Hulu continues, Financial Times reports that Yahoo, Amazon and Dish Network are all expected to offer near 2 billion dollars for the company, its subscription service and the rights to exclusive content for at least two years.
However, Google is rumored to have proposed a significantly higher bid for an acquisition proposal on a larger scale. Details have not been released, but some speculate that Google may offer a couple billion dollars more in exchange for more content for a longer period of time. It is not clear if the Google proposal includes a longer deal for content or possibly something else — or if Hulu would even be interested in a new plan.
According to The Wall Street Journal: “Since that’s not what Hulu’s owners have put on the table, ‘normally we would have thrown people out if they’d said that,’ says an executive familiar with the sales process. But Google ‘indicated that there’s enough money’ involved so that Hulu’s owners are at least thinking about continuing the discussion.
The video site would fit nicely with Google’s YouTube, which has struggled in landing the type of long-form premium content that Hulu owns. And if rumors are accurate, Google is willing to pay.
But would the content owners agree to terms with Google, which is already the largest video website worldwide, when they were earlier holdouts on Google TV?
Turkish HDTV manufacturer Vestel has announced it would be the first to integrate BitTorrent software into its televisions, enabling European consumers easier access to expanded content offerings.
BitTorrent emphasized the deal does not allow easier access to pirated content, but enables “consumers to find, play and share all types of personal media, independently produced content and Internet files directly on their TV,” reports Home Media Magazine.
Shahi Ghanem, chief strategist at BitTorrent, said Vestel is a “good and early” example of his company’s push to be included on as many connected devices as possible, and added that by the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show, BitTorrent would be available on more CE devices.
However, there are detractors. “I do not believe this offering will get much attention from CE companies on this side of the ocean,” said an unnamed exec for a major electronics company. “Unlikely a CE company would be indemnified if the software was misused. Reminds me of Napster, [which] at one time facilitated piracy.”
BitTorrent is used by more than 100 million-plus global Internet users.
Consent from the U.S. Department of Justice for the Comcast-NBCUniversal merger has been approved, but with a new condition.
Comcast purchased 51 percent of NBCUniversal from General Electric in January, creating a $30 billion business that includes broadcast, cable networks, movie studios and theme parks.
At that time, the Department of Justice said Comcast could acquire NBCUniversal only if it ceded control of Hulu and made stand-alone broadband service available at $49.95 per month for three years, but the settlement still required final approval.
Last week, Judge Richard Leon delivered final approval, but stipulated that the federal government would monitor whether rival online video services, such as Hulu or Netflix, demand arbitration to license content from Comcast-NBCU for the next two years.
The ability of rivals to obtain programming was one of the key concerns of the DOJ and the FCC during reviews of the merger.
“Since neither the Court nor the parties has a crystal ball to forecast how this Final Judgment, along with its arbitration mechanisms, will actually function … I believe that certain additional steps are necessary,” Leon said in a court order.
Toshiba announced its new flagship 3D TV, the ZL2 series, which offers glasses-free 3D, 4096 x 2160 resolution, upscaling of low-res to high-res 3D, and facial recognition used to customize viewing angles.
The TV uses lenticular “lenslets” that can be modified for up to nine different viewing angles.
Check out the article for the author’s impression after watching 3D on the ZL2. Introduction: “I got a chance to watch the TV’s 3D mode in action, and it’s pretty great. It’s not magical, however. Instead of the typical dimming of shutter-based 3D TVs, it feels like you can see the black lines dividing the pixels. It’s not that the picture is actually low resolution, however, there’s still plenty of detail on screen, it just happens to ‘show the seams’ more than I’d like. It’s very pleasant to watch, and I didn’t get a 3DS headache or any nausea.”
The ZL2 is not for everyone: current pricing of the 55-inch model is equivalent to $11,424 U.S. dollars.
As earlier reported on ETCentric, CE controls may soon be based on gestures rather than directional buttons, creating a more “natural” experience that could potentially change the way viewers interact with media.
The motion-sensing technology for Nintendo’s Wii and the Kinect module for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 is advancing to remote controls for other consumer electronics, including the TV.
For example, Hillcrest Labs has unveiled a portfolio of products targeted at applications in computers, game consoles, industrial automation, mobile phones, robotics and TVs.
Hillcrest has released its Motion Engine and Sensor Modules for hardware products, and the its new Scoop pointer replaces the consumer-facing Loop product (the company raised $5.5 million earlier this year).
“Most recently, streaming set-top box maker Roku unveiled a new controller that includes Hillcrest Labs’ motion-sensing technology,” reports GigaOM. “Right now, that controller is used primarily for a new generation of casual gaming apps — like ‘Angry Birds’ — that have been introduced on its boxes, but we could imagine its use being extended to controlling app navigation with an update to its outdated UI.”
GigaOM suggests that making the TV remote gesture-based will open up the possibility of more interactive experiences that could lead to a revolution, similar to how graphical user interfaces and the computer mouse fundamentally changed how people used their PCs and led to new applications and capabilities: “No longer trapped by the up-down-left-right navigation that comes from traditional remotes, operators will be able to create improved user interfaces. Finally, being able to point and click on the TV screen could also allow broadcasters and advertisers to create more immersive applications as part of their shows and advertisements.”
Miso’s iPhone application has paired up with DirecTV receivers over Wi-Fi to provide users an experience beyond TV show checkins.
The application automatically shows users what is playing, allows them to share what they’re watching and rate it, chat with other viewers, and answer questions about the show.
Miso co-founder Somray Niyogi says, “Now that we know what you’re watching, we can explore what synchronization could really mean. To us, it’s about value — this may come in the form of simplicity of sharing, delivering you complementary content, getting answers to questions you might have while watching TV or a combination of all of the above.”
Miso has more than 225,000 users and competes with GetGlue and Yahoo-owned IntoNow. Earlier this year, the startup began beta tests of an Android app to work with programming on Boxee.
Online video subscribers of Netflix and Amazon Prime paid almost $50 on average for video subscriptions during a recent six-month period.
According to new research from Parks Associates, subscribers spent less than half of that amount on a la carte video purchases.
The number of movie and TV show downloads declined 56 percent from 2009 to 2010, and movie rental downloads decreased 70 percent.
“Based on the reported usage of video download services by U.S. survey respondents in Q4, consumer spending on a la carte video during a six-month period ranged from $12 to $26,” reports Home Media Magazine. “Comparable spending on video services subscriptions during that same period reached at least $48 per household.”
“The all-you-can-eat-style subscription approach taken by Netflix has proven successful in the U.S. market,” Parks said in its report. “It has helped to drive up consumption — and spending — for online video.”
Netflix ended the most recent fiscal quarter with more than 25 million subscribers in North America.
In its first international venture, Hulu is launching its subscription service in Japan where it will offer hundreds of premium feature films and thousands of TV shows for $19.19/month.
The service will be accessible via select connected TVs and smartphones (Engadget reports that Panasonic Blu-ray players, Sony Blu-ray players and TVs, Xbox 360 and PS3 consoles and Android tablets are relegated to the “coming soon” list.)
Content will be provided from CBS, NBCUniversal, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox, The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros. Additional local market content will be added including Japanese-produced and other Asian content.
Hulu is also announcing an exclusive mobile marketing partnership with NTT Docomo. Details will be forthcoming.
A follow-up post from GigaOM yesterday outlines the differences between Hulu’s current U.S. offerings and its plans for the Japanese market, “that could give a hint at what Hulu might look like in the future.” So is there a “no ads, higher fees and more content suppliers” future for Hulu outside of Japan? If so, watch out Netflix!
The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) is developing new standards for 21:9 aspect ratio TV displays.
The standards are meant to support the emerging wider-format movies being released by Hollywood studios.
CEA said it is calling for industry participation “to investigate incorporation of methods for signaling delivery of the presence of 21:9 video into CEA 861, A DTV Profile for Uncompressed High-Speed Digital Interfaces.”
“As video displays with the 21:9 aspect ratio are now appearing in the marketplace, adding this feature to the standard can more efficiently deliver such video to DTV receivers with native 21:9 displays,” CEA said in a statement.
Efforts will be coordinated by CEA’s DTV interface subcommittee’s uncompressed A/V digital interfaces working group.
Subscription online music service MOG has announced the availability of its new app for the Boxee Box by D-Link.
According to the press release: “MOG is the first on-demand music service providing unlimited music in high quality, 320 kbps, to be offered as a native app for Boxee. Listeners can now enjoy MOG’s HQ audio through this new living room offering, featuring a wireless remote keypad for quick searches of MOG’s 11.5-million song catalog on a user’s connected TV.”
You can test drive MOG free for 14 days, reports Engadget. After the trial period, you have a choice of the $4.99/month basic account or $9.99/month Primo account.
